Latvian Head Coach Rožlapa Cuts Four Players Ahead of EuroBasket 2027 Qualifier vs. Slovenia
Ljubljana,Slovenia – Head coach Matīss Rožlapa has finalized the Latvian women’s basketball team roster for Wednesday’s opening EuroBasket 2027 qualification match against Slovenia,dropping Līna Loceniece,luīze Sila,Katrīna Ozola,and Laura Melderi from the initial 16-player candidate pool. The Latvian Basketball Association (LBS) announced the cuts as the team prepares to begin its campaign in Group B.
This marks the start of a new qualifying format for the European Women’s Championship. Twenty-seven teams are competing in the first round,divided into seven groups,with a two-round competition taking place this season. The top two teams from each group, plus three of the seven third-place finishers, will advance to the second qualifying round, joining the seven teams that qualified for the FIBA Women’s World Cup (spain, Italy, France, Czech Republic, Germany, Turkey, and Hungary). Ultimately, 24 teams will vie for spots in the final tournament, which will be hosted by Belgium, Lithuania, Finland, and Sweden.
The Latvian squad set to face Slovenia includes Ieva Pulvere, Vanesa Jas, Enija Vīksne (all – “TTT Rīga”), Anna Liepiņa, Kate Vilka (both - Klaipėda “Neptūnas”, Lithuania), Ketija Wihmane, Digna Strautmane (both - Wroclaw “Sleza”, Poland), Anete Steinberg, Kitija Laksa (both – Skio “Famila”, Italy), Paula Strautmane (Ramatgana “Maccabi”, Israel), Elizabete Bulāne (“Trutnov”, Czech Republic), and Aleksa Gulbe (Lyon ASVEL, France).
Latvia and Slovenia have met five times previously, with Latvia holding a 3-2 advantage. Their first encounter during EuroBasket qualification came in 1997, resulting in an 82-70 Latvian victory. More recently,the teams split home wins in 2016 (51-69 and 77-66) both qualifying for the final tournament.Test matches in 2006 (79-56 Latvia win) and 2019 (80-79 slovenia win) complete the historical record.
Following the Slovenia match, Latvia will host the Netherlands on November 15 at the Team Sports hall and Estonia on November 18, also at home. Estonia will play the Netherlands on Wednesday in the first round of Group B.
